This church body began informally in 1917 at the split between the old and reorganized Norwegian Synod.  In November of 1921, our congregation - including members from New Hope, Scandinavia, Nelsonville, Alban, Rosholt and Iola - drew together. On January 22, 1922, Our Savior's Evangelical Lutheran Church in New Hope was founded as a congregation of Norwegian Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (now known as the Evangelical Lutheran Synod - ELS). After years of meeting in rented rooms of area churches and being hosted in the homes and yards of membeers, the congregation decided to build its own home in the Township of New Hope. A half-acre apple orchard at the junction of State Hwy 161 and Cty T became the site of Our Savior's Lutheran Church. Our building was dedicated on July 10, 1927 and our cemetery was dedicated the same year at the junction of Cty Hwy T and Trout Creek Road.

 

There are many intriguing points of congregation history, faith community events and personal memories that are important in the church's history. They are recorded in our church history publication A Century of God's Grace in New Hope. See below for more information.

 

A century after coming into being, the congregation has drawn regular weekly worship to a close in a Celebration of Public Ministry on March 13, 2022. Most importantly, the ministry of the congregation will continue forward by God's grace through the legacy of our shared contributions to the lives of our church friends, families, community, synod and global ministry of the ELS. 

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Contact Rev. Greg Haugen or the Evangelical Lutheran Synod office in Mankato, MN, about things such as the following:

• Our church's written history publication

• Our Savior's Cemetery information

• Our Savior's minesterial records - baptisms, weddings, confirmations, funerals